Bahamas News
Relief supplies and aid continue to pour into Grand Bahama
#Freeport, GB, September 13, 2019 – Bahamas – On Wednesday morning World Central Kitchen, owned by chef and philanthropist Jose Andres, arrived in Freeport Harbor, with thousands of already prepared meals, as well as tons of dry goods and other relief supplies. Chef Andres has joined the many international volunteers who have opened up their hearts and storehouses to the people of Grand Bahama in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.
“The outpouring of support from both the Caribbean and our international partners has been tremendous,” said Senator Jasmin Dareus, who is working closely with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the distribution of supplies.
According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Floridians have raised more than $11 million for hurricane relief in The Bahamas.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has stood strong behind its commitment to supply some 10,000 per day to Grand Bahama, along with other supplies like pallets of water, canned and dry goods. Freeport Harbour has become a beehive of activity every day since the restoration effort began.
Carnival Cruise Line has also made significant commitment to assisting Grand Bahama during this time of great devastation.
From as early as 6:00 a.m. to later into the afternoon, charitable organizations, churches and other civic groups are in an out of the dock, collecting supplies for their respective organizations. They in turn will distribute the goods to their respective communities. “What’s going on here is this place has become our official point of distribution to all of the centers, shelters, churches and other organizations,” Senator Dareus pointed out, while dodging moving forklifts and people claiming supplies.
“Right now there are 35 shelters and centers across Grand Bahama, from West to East End and what we do is ensure that every day these centers are filled with breakfast items, lunch, dinner, snacks, water and other necessary items. There are more than 20,000 such meals per day and at this point we have already distributed over 100,000 meals, along with cases of water, canned goods and other relief supplies.”
But the Senator is ensuring that not only do churches and other groups who show up for their supplies receive those supplies but, working closely with NEMA, that they take food and supplies to those who may not be able to get to the harbour to collect provisions. Because of severe flooding caused by Hurricane Dorian a number of government and private citizen vehicles were damaged and out of commission. Senator Dareus added, “Working along with NEMA, Senate President, Kay Forbes-Smith and I assist in ensuring that the meals get to individuals within the community. There are people who are unable to get out because of flooding, but these individuals need to be fed and to receive supplies. We cater to the Children’s Home, to the Rand Memorial Hospital and every shelter on this island.”
In addition to the aid that’s coming in from the United States — Japan, China and Caribbean islands have committed themselves to supplying aid to both Grand Bahama and Abaco, the two islands hardest hit by the Category Five Hurricane Dorian.
Senator Dareus thanked all of those nations and countries who have come to the aid of The Bahamas generally and Grand Bahama, specifically.
By Andrew Coakley
Photo Captions:
Header: Individuals from churches, civic and charitable organizations make frequent trips to Freeport Harbour to collect donated items to distribute within their communities and to victims of Hurricane Dorian. The supplies have been donated by a number of international donors from the United States, the Caribbean and other parts of the world.
Insert: Crew members of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line unload hurricane relief supplies on Tuesday morning at Freeport Harbour. RCCL has committed to donating 10,000 cooked meals per day, along with other relief supplies to Grand Bahama.
(BIS Photo/Lisa Davis)
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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